Page 24 of Handcuffed Hussy
"I found out in college I was good with computers and coding. Which was something I kept quiet about. I was a fashion student, for God's sake! You don't make it in that world while also being a computer geek. The only people who knew the extent of my skills were my computer teachers and they pretty much left me alone after they failed to convince me to change to a programming major."
I didn't want to acknowledge where my head was at, but there was something really hot about a stunning woman like her being a total brain. I mean, she found Hessa's guy before my own tech guy did! Shit, I loved her body and her spirit before all this, but now I was falling for her brain too.
"I continued volunteering my time, but one thing you quickly see is that this is a huge problem in this state. The number of homeless people is steadily climbing and the state can't afford the climbing costs. Volunteering my time was like a drop in the ocean. I needed to do more, have more of an impact. So when I was tasked with overseeing the markdowns on clothes in my department, I kept an eye out for things like jackets, scarves, etc. When they came through, I marked them down as low as I could without attracting attention and then purchased them."
She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. "Those two jackets you saw? Those were the last two out of ten that I bought and handed out."
"And the hacking?" I wanted to get back to that, the most egregious of broken laws.
She shrugged. "A lot of up-and-coming designers get totally overlooked because they're new and no one knows about them yet. And most of their stuff is even better than the established brands! So I just changed some coding in the search function bar to give preferential treatment to the smaller designers and get their clothes higher up in the search results. I was super careful and besides, the tech guys are looking for people hacking into the payment processing parts of the website, not the search function."
I ran a hand down my face, trying to keep the exasperation from my expression. "Bailey. Hacking is hacking. A judge wouldn't care what you hacked into. The fact you got behind their fire walls at all is enough to get you in trouble. Like actual prison time. Do you get that?"
"Yes, I get that, I'm not an idiot! I was willing to take that risk." Bailey hopped off the couch, hands on hips. Standard defense mode.
I shook my head, not understanding why she had no self-preservation skills. I stood up, hands out in a gesture of peace, wanting her to really hear me. "What good would being in prison do for you or the homeless people you help every week? Why not use your skills and obvious desire for good rather than sully all those good intentions with illegal activity?"
She flung her arms out at her sides, and I was wagering on if she'd stomp her foot too. "Because I'm good at hacking. Why not use my skills? Plus, no one knew, not even Esa, that I was that good of a hacker. No one would suspect me. Besides, I was doing it all to help people. I wasn't hurting anyone, so what's the big deal?"
"What's the big deal?" I couldn't believe she didn't see it. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm myself so I could explain logically. "What about the bigger designers that worked their asses off to be household names? Do they deserve to have sales taken away from them? What about other lower income shoppers that needed those coats but now can't get them because you snatched them up? What if everyone hacked into sites and tinkered with things to get what they wanted? Do you know what would happen?"
I was out of breath, and as she crossed her arms over her chest, I was also out of time. She wasn't willing to see this from my point of view and I didn't know how to get through to her.
Deciding to drop the argument and give her the out she wanted, I took a couple steps toward the front door, intent on leaving before I erupted. I stopped, my churning stomach making me unwilling to leave things as they were between us. I turned back around and saw her, tears back in her eyes and her crossed arms looking more like she was trying to give herself a hug of support than gearing up for a fight. She looked alone.
"Bae." I shoved my hands in my jean pockets so I wouldn't give in to the urge to reach out and comfort her. "I massively admire your desire to help people. Please don't think I don't understand your need to keep your promise. But I also firmly believe in right and wrong. And what you're doing is wrong. There absolutely has to be a way for you to make the impact you want. Legally."
I walked to the door and was almost through it when she called out, her voice shaking, "So it's a deal breaker?"
I looked down and closed my eyes, hearing the hurt in her voice and knowing it matched the hurt I felt too. "Continuing to do illegal things? Yes, that's a deal breaker for me."
I walked out, closed her door, and got in my car. It was like all the light she'd brought to my life faded away in an instant, making realize how dark my life had been before her. She'd opened my eyes to what I wanted out of life. How could I go back to a time before she'd changed everything? I didn't want to remain in the dark, but I didn't know how to make this right.
Never had I been tempted to straddle the line of right and wrong, to play in the shady areas of life, but with this woman, I was that close to throwing away all my principles to keep her in my life. Some small part of me held me back, hoping she'd see my point of view and come back to me. It was enough to get me to start my car and drive away, knowing I'd left my heart back at her house.
I knew I did the right thing, but then why did it feel so wrong?
